1. Zell Bryan Miller was an American politician who served as a United States senator representing Georgia from 2000 to 2005 and as the 79th governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999.
42 Facts About Zell Miller
1. 2.
Zell Miller was a member of the Democratic Party, and until 2021, was the last Democratic senator from Georgia.
3.
Zell Miller was a conservative Democrat as a senator in the 2000s.
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Zell Miller did not seek re-election to the Senate in 2004.
5.
Zell Miller was born in the small mountain town of Young Harris, Georgia.
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Zell Miller's father, Stephen Grady Miller, was a teacher who died of cerebral meningitis when Miller was a 17-day-old infant, and the future politician was raised by his widowed mother, Birdie Bryan.
7.
Zell Miller had a sister, Jane, who was six years older than he.
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Zell Miller received an associate degree from Young Harris College in his home town and later attended Emory University.
9.
Zell Miller stated later that this incident was the lowest point of his life.
10.
Zell Miller often referred to the value of his experience in the Marine Corps in his writing and stump speeches.
11.
Zell Miller taught history at Young Harris College following his graduation from the University of Georgia.
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Zell Miller's parents were both involved in local politics in the North Georgia mountains.
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Zell Miller was elected to two terms as a Georgia state senator from 1961 until 1964.
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In 1964 and 1966, Zell Miller unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for the United States House of Representatives.
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Zell Miller later served in state government as the executive secretary to Governor Lester Maddox and in the Georgia Democratic Party, and was the Georgia state chairman for Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign.
16.
Zell Miller was elected Lieutenant Governor of Georgia in 1974, serving four terms from 1975 to 1991, through the terms of Governors George Busbee and Joe Frank Harris, making him the longest-serving lieutenant governor in Georgia history.
17.
In 1980, Zell Miller unsuccessfully challenged Herman Talmadge in the Democratic primary for his seat in the United States Senate.
18.
Zell Miller was elected governor of Georgia in 1990, defeating Republican Johnny Isakson after defeating former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and future Governor Roy Barnes in the primary.
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Zell Miller campaigned on the concept of term limits and pledged to seek only a single term as governor.
20.
Zell Miller later ran for and won re-election in 1994.
21.
In 1991, Zell Miller endorsed Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas for president.
22.
Zell Miller gave the keynote speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
23.
Twelve years later, Zell Miller would give the keynote address at the opposing party's convention, held at New York's Madison Square Garden, in 2004.
24.
Zell Miller helped found the HOPE Scholarship, which paid for the college tuition of Georgia students who both established a GPA of 3.0 in high school and maintained the same while in college, and who were from families earning less than $66,000 per year.
25.
Zell Miller was a visiting professor at all three institutions when he was appointed to the US Senate in 2000.
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Zell Miller defeated former US Senator Mack Mattingly in a special election to keep the seat in November 2000.
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Zell Miller often supported Republicans and criticized Democrats during his tenure in the Senate.
28.
Zell Miller supported much of George W Bush's agenda, including tax cuts and oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
29.
Zell Miller supported anti-abortion policies as a senator, after supporting abortion rights as governor.
30.
Zell Miller supported a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage as senator, after inviting the Gay Games to Atlanta as governor.
31.
Zell Miller argued that the Democratic Party, as it now stood, was a far left-wing party that was out of touch with the America of today and that the Republican Party now embraced the conservative Democratic ideals that he had held for so long.
32.
In 2003, Zell Miller announced that he would not seek re-election after completing his term in the Senate.
33.
Zell Miller announced that he would support President George W Bush in the 2004 presidential election rather than any of the nine candidates then competing for his own party's nomination.
34.
Shortly after announcing his retirement, Zell Miller began to call for the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which allowed for the direct election of US Senators, rather than having US Senators be elected by state legislatures.
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Shortly thereafter, Zell Miller appeared in an interview with Chris Matthews on the MSNBC show Hardball.
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In 2012, Zell Miller served as the national co-chair to the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.
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In 2014, Zell Miller endorsed major Georgia candidates in both parties.
38.
Zell Miller made a TV ad supporting the candidacy of Michelle Nunn, who was the Democratic nominee for the US Senate.
39.
In 2005, Zell Miller was elected to the board of directors of the National Rifle Association of America.
40.
Zell Miller was a speaker at "Justice Sunday II," an event organized by conservative Christian evangelicals to combat alleged liberal bias in the federal judiciary of the United States.
41.
Zell Miller's health took a downward turn in the late 2000s when he developed Parkinson's disease and other health concerns, which ended in various complications.
42.
Zell Miller died on March 23,2018, at his home in Young Harris, Georgia, from complications of Parkinson's disease.